


Kites

by Dragonsquill (dragonsquill)



Series: Hobbit ABCs [11]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Nori and Bofur BFFs, Or could be happily read as more, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-07
Updated: 2015-07-07
Packaged: 2018-04-08 02:24:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4287147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonsquill/pseuds/Dragonsquill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nori found them in the storage rooms near the main gates. </p><p>Preparing a long-empty mountain for the arrival of an entire people meant hauling corpses and sifting through the belongings of the dead over long, exhausting weeks.  Which was why, when Nori emerged from the little side room carrying a colorful selection of kites with the clear intention of tossing them, Bofur had to intervene.</p><p>“Not those!” he yelped, practically sliding to a stop at Nori’s side.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kites

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jynx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jynx/gifts).



Nori found them in the storage rooms near the main gates. 

Preparing a long-empty mountain for the arrival of an entire people meant hauling corpses and sifting through the belongings of the dead over long, exhausting weeks. Which was why, when Nori emerged from the little side room carrying a colorful selection of kites with the clear intention of tossing them, Bofur had to intervene.

“Not those!” he yelped, practically sliding to a stop at Nori’s side.

Nori looked at him quizzically. “They’re _toys_ , Bofur.”

Bofur reached out, taking a small red one in his hands. “Aye, that’s just what they are. And it’s why they’re so important.” 

Nori shot him a look that broke Bofur’s heart a little. He didn’t know a lot about Nori, at least not specifics. They were friends but Nori wasn’t the sort to prattle on about his life. He’d gathered, more from listening to Dori and Ori, that there’d been a lot of hungry days and sleeping outside, and if there was anyone who didn’t have a home, it was those dwarves born while the Longbeards wandered the world in search of a mountain. “Food and shelter are important,” Nori told him. “Having places to sleep and store essentials is important. Toys can wait.”

Bofur shook his head. “No, no. Toys make people happy. They bring joy, they wake up imagination, they lift spirits.” He held up the kite in his hands, showing the messy painting on the surface. “A child painted this, I’ll bet, while someone who loved him watched and encouraged him, and then they went to fly it, and that was one of the most exciting moments in that child’s life, seeing the kite he made with his mother or father soar through the air above the city.”

Nori snorted, his voice hard but his eyes soft, and that was what it took to understand Nori. He was all sarcasm and sharp edges, until you looked at his eyes and the delicate movements of his hands. Now he gently touched the somewhat tattered tail of the kite, even as he said, “Kid’s dead now. He won’t care if it’s gone.”

“Maybe,” Bofur allowed. “Or maybe he’s going to be here in a few months, all grown and with children of his own, and they can take this kite out and free it on the wind above their home.”

Nori chuckled, down low in his chest, the only way he ever laughed. “You’re a romantic.”

Bofur grinned. “I am, at that. And a bit of a bloviating storyteller at heart, but stories are important too, you know.” Nori scoffed, but he didn’t argue, and that was as good as agreement or so Bofur was learning.

The miner leaned forward to study Nori’s armful. “You know,” he said, “I think it’s a good time for kites. Wind’s decent, nice time of day.”

“It’s cold.”

“We’re dwarves. We don’t whine about the cold,” Bofur said dismissively. He plucked up two kites and ducked in for another. “Come on then. Time to have some fun.”

“We have _work_ to do.”

Bofur winked at him. “Aye, because you’re so good at taking orders! The notorious Nori would never skive a bit, now would he?”

Nori’s little grin in response was slow and sly. “There is that,” he agreed.

It turned out to be less than a fine day for flying kites, though with a good deal of trial and error they did manage to get two of the three in the air and only lost one to a sudden gust of wind. Nori was a fast learner, of course, as well as fleet on his feet, and so his skills soon outstripped Bofur’s. The miner didn’t mind; there was a sense of accomplishment in lessons well-taught.

It was worth losing the one, too, because Nori laughed - startled and rough and aloud - when the flurry of cold jerked the kite from his hands and sent it dancing over the mountain.


End file.
